Richard's Testimony

Christian Formation Ministries, Inc.

Richard H. & Dawn M. Johnson

Richard Johnson's Testimony

My dad abandoned our family when I was five years old. That same year my uncle kidnapped me, took me to New York City, molested me, and then brought me home and dumped me on my mother’s doorstep. These two events had long-term consequences, creating a pool of rage in my heart until years later, when Jesus healed me and set me free.

I was a lonely twelve-year old when I gave my life to the Lord in February of 1964 at a Christian camp in Massachusetts. That important decision preserved my life. That was also the year I started learning how to play the guitar.

Coming as I did from a church with a liberal view of the gospel, there was no older brother in the Lord around, a mentor to help me grow in Him and become strong in my faith. A desire to re-invent myself, and numb the pain and anger, led me away from God in my mid-teens and into drugs, alcohol, and all sorts of sinful and destructive behavior.

During the early seventies I enjoyed a brief run of success as a musician, songwriter, and performer. I lived the musician’s life to the fullest, and lost it all. I went from making a decent living on the college concert circuit, to singing in bars for fifty bucks a night and all I could drink.

I became a user and abuser of people, a taker with a limited capacity for healthy relationships. Angry at God, I blamed Him for the death of my music career and all my other problems. I lived in fear that someone might see how vulnerable and desperate I was, so I put on a happy face and tried to convince myself that I was okay. But deep down, I was tired of living and wanted to die.

On New Year’s Eve, December 31^st, 1979, I went out to get drunk…but no matter what I drank, I couldn’t get a buzz. That was the end of my drinking.

A month or so later I wandered through an open church door just in time to attend my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, where I came face to face with the truth of my addiction, and for the first time admitted out loud what my heart had known for a long time; that I was powerless over alcohol and my life was a mess. I hadn't planned to go to the meeting; the Lord must have arranged it.

Two years sober, I was tested; that time I had been warned about had come, when no power on earth would keep me from picking up the next drink.

Driven by unbearable pain, I wanted to drink…but I didn’t. Unable to find relief, I shut myself up in my bedroom closet on the afternoon of January 24^th, 1982, and cried out “God I can’t live this way another second!” Jesus showed up, and took the pain away. He replaced it with a peace unlike anything that I had ever known. More than twenty five years later, I still have it.

Sin and selfishness took away my ability to make decisions, and made my life narrower and smaller. Jesus took away my sin, and He's been working on my selfishness ever since. In the years since I met Him, my life has gotten wider and larger.

He has given me a new life, and turned me loose to help others find their way home to Him, too. I've had more fun by accident with Jesus, than I ever did on purpose before I came to know Him. He's easy to live with.

Jesusislordus loves you! Jesuslove

Richard H. & Dawn M. Johnson

Christian Formation Ministries, Inc.

A 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization.

Mailing Address: PO Box 1575, New Albany, IN 47151-1575

Location: The Christian Formation Center, 220 Graybrook Lane, New Albany, IN (please, no mail at this address)

812.945.0886

For information about our ministry, please e-mail: richard at christian-formation dot org.